


Give Me A Break

by orphan_account



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, M/M, Nothing explicit though!, Selectively Mute Gordon Freeman, Slow-ish burn, barney's a disaster, oblivious Gordon Freeman, rated mature for occasional sexual themes and swearing, tags to be added as the fic is updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24773350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Gordon Freeman is a new hire at Black Mesa, and Barney Calhoun has been ordered to show him around for his first day.
Relationships: Barney Calhoun & Original Characters, Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman, Gordon Freeman & Isaac Kleiner
Comments: 3
Kudos: 103





	Give Me A Break

Barney was angry when he walked through the security doors. It started that morning when he dropped his coffee on his vest, leaving him cold and wet and embarrassed, one of his co-workers laughing at him in a cruel manner. The other guard hadn’t even offered the napkins sitting right next to her — instead, Barney had to trudge over to the table and wipe down as best as he could.

“Nice going, Calhoun. I’m sure that’ll smell great when you’re working in the Pen, today.”

Barney groaned, and scrubbed harder.

“The Pen? Why? Nothing happens there, except for those damn white coats bustling around and yelling at each other. It’s just a pissing contest with less creative insults.” Barney grumbled, tossing the napkins at the trash can, and missing rather spectacularly. This sent the other guard into another fit of laughter.

“Good luck out there, tiger! Go get ‘em!” She shouted after him, giving him a mock-salute.

“Fuck off, Christa!” Barney retorted, sneering back at her once through the next set of doors. Christa only laughed again.

_If she weren’t my co-worker, I’d challenge her to a no-holds-barred fight. Right here in the main lobby._

Barney wrinkled his nose at the thought.

_What am I thinking? She’d kill me. And use my skin as a new purse._

He walked up to the main desk and presented his identification card, awkwardly making eye contact with the man at the front desk. Funnily enough (or, perhaps, sadly enough) Barney hadn’t ever thought to get his name, even though they interacted on a daily basis, for years at this point. Once his card was scanned, he was let through into the main complex.

“Hey, Calhoun!”

“Hey, Collins. What’s up?”

Collins was short, muscular, and sharp as a nail; their hair was always in a firm knot at the nape of their neck, and every piece of their uniform was always in place, not a single crease anywhere there shouldn’t be.

“You’re in the Pen today, Calhoun. There’s a new scientist, he needs shown around every level of Black Mesa. You’ve got a long day ahead of you.” They smiled their crooked-tooth smile and patted Barney on the shoulder. “He’s real cute, though, so I don’t think you’ll be too unhappy…”

“Collins!” Barney gasped, only slightly shocked. “You know, you don’t have to be my wingmate. I can do this on my own.”

Collins, sometimes affectionately known as “Cash,” was Barney’s long-time friend and co-worker. They had known each other since high school; and Collins was the one who got him into Black Mesa.Unfortunately, they knew exactly what Barney's type was -- and wanted to help their friend get a date.

Collins winked, and walked past him, ending the conversation with, “I’m sure you can. His name is Gordon, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Grab coffee with me later?”

“Sure. Go, he’s been waiting for a while now.”

With that, Collins disappeared around the corner, humming. Barney adjusted his (still-wet) vest, and turned to enter the elevator.

The elevator went down, down, down — the Pen was on one of the much lower levels, and it got absolutely sweltering down there. Barney rolled up his sleeves, and ran his fingers over the edge of his vest, playing with the thick edges. He was nervous; Collins had done nothing to assuage his fears of meeting this new, apparently cute scientist, and he was mentally preparing himself for the worst, as the elevator opened. Barney immediately strode forward, chest puffed slightly out —

— and collided with someone, sending them to the ground.

Barney instantly went to help the person up — _a scientist! Oh, wait, fuck! This is THE scientist!_ Barney panicked, and further panicked when he realized the man had a cane.

“Oh, my God, I am so sorry, I’m Barney, you’re Gordon, right? I’m so sorry, let’s get you back up —“

The scientist had a look of pure disgust on his face, and he retrieved his cane, standing shakily up. He spoke at barely a whisper.

“Yes, I am Gordon Freeman. Nice to meet you…Barney.” He brushed himself off, and leaned on his cane, very pink in the face. “You’re my guide?”

_Barney Calhoun, you stupid, stupid man._

“…Yeah, I guess I am. Follow me.” Barney led him down the adjacent hallway, stopping at the set of silo doors that guarded the Blast Pit. When Gordon had stopped next to him, Barney gestured at the rest of the hallway, and the multitude of doors. “Okay, so, down this way is the Blast Pit. These doors don’t open except for the utmost of emergencies. The labs down that way —“ Barney pointed at one lab in particular, one where yellow light was pouring from the entrance, “— is the highest-level stuff. If you’re down here, I’m guessing you’re working with all of that, huh?” When he got no response, Barney looked over at Gordon, and noticed a multitude of things right away.

For one thing, and the most pressing to Barney at the moment, Gordon was absolutely gorgeous. The yellow light pooled in the dips of his cheekbones and in the soft dimples that set on either side of his mouth; his hair was tied back in an orange ponytail holder, and the ponytail itself curled ever so slightly over the back of his lab coat. His hair caught the light in a way that made it look aflame. The freckles that dotted his nose only complimented this. Barney only got a glimpse of his eyes, but they were strikingly green, and full of absolute wonder at the scenes before him. He seemed totally enraptured, even just by the door in front of him.

“Hello? Mr. Barney?”

“Oh, yeah, what?”

Gordon looked somewhat concerned, but far more irritated.

“I asked if there was more I could see down here.”

Barney cleared his throat, and tore his gaze away from that small stretch of freckled skin just visible above Gordon’s coat, to point at the service ladders that stretched from the floor to an unseen height. If a _door_ made Gordon make that face, Barney would find just about any excuse to see it again.“Those are the service ladders. They reach up to level 12F, about two hundred feet above us. We only use those if there’s a total power outage, so, never.” The guard adjusted his belt a bit, and walked forward, motioning for Gordon to follow him down the hallway. “Here’s the three labs. We can go look around in an empty one, if you’d prefer.”

Gordon nodded vigorously and trotted after Barney, peeking over his shoulder at the dark room. Barney flipped on the light, revealing a very empty and very dusty lab.

“Not sure what they do here, but —“

“These are prints to an Anti-Mass Spectrometer! Do we have one here? Can I see it?” Gordon was nearly vibrating with excitement, rocking back and forth and picking up the papers. “I heard that Black Mesa might have one, but I didn’t think it was true! Can I see it, please?” Before Gordon could get any further with his reading, though, Barney grabbed them out of his hands and placed them on a high shelf.

“That’s classified information, Dr. Freeman. Not sure why those eggheads — uh, I mean, scientists — left all this stuff out in plain view.” Barney crossed his arms, refusing to let the pleading get to him. “Let’s go, before I get in trouble for your snooping.”

“It’s not _snooping_ if it’s sitting right here on the table,” Gordon huffed, eyeing the shelf behind Barney. “I work here, you know.”

“So do I, Dr. Freeman, and with all due respect; I don’t have to show you anything other than the absolute basics.” Barney said with a smug smile, doing his hip-wiggle again. Gordon narrowed his eyes.

“I have a Level Four clearance, Officer. I work down here.”

“Well, I don’t see any identification.”

“I don’t see yours!”

Barney momentarily froze, and glanced down at the vest. _Oh, my God, I left my card with the guy at the front desk. Oh my God._

“Yeah, well, that’s not important! I’ve worked here for five years, and you’ve just arrived!” Their argument was getting heated now — Gordon looked absolutely ready to escalate to yelling.

“Barney? What on Earth — Gordon Freeman!”

Gordon whipped his head around, and instantly, his expression changed. He walked as quickly as he could to the scientist who had just exited the lab, and threw his arms around him.

“Kliener!”

“Hello, hello, Gordon! How have you been? Barney giving you trouble?”

Instead of speaking, Gordon started to excitedly sign, Kliener following along closely, occasionally saying “Wonderful!” And “Yes, of course.” It was interesting to watch, especially seeing the apparent bond between the two scientists; Barney hadn’t ever heard Kliener speak of a “Gordon Freeman,” but then again, he didn’t often hang out with the scientists.

“Dr. Kliener, you know him?”

“Yes, of course, Barney. Gordon here was my star student, back at MIT…as well as my somewhat-adopted son. I knew I’d see him here soon, but not so soon! My lab is a mess, I’m afraid; you may step inside, if you wish!”

Gordon followed behind, hopping up onto a clear counter to sit while Barney leaned up against the door. Kliener launched into a tirade about what he was working on, something about the light and energy refracted through crystals — Gordon, once again, looked completely enamored as Kliener talked, occasionally waving his hand to sign something. A question, perhaps.

“…So, when lined up correctly, there is a possibility that the Anti-Mass Spectrometer could rip a hole in the very fabric of our worlds! Listen, Gordon, there is —“

“Dr. Kliener, I really have to finish showing Dr. Freeman around. We’ve only just started.” Barney complained, speaking over the scientist. “You’ll have time to catch up soon, you know.”

“Oh, of course, of course. Go on, Gordon, I will page you later! I am fascinated by your thesis’ theoretical experiment, I would love to further discuss your ideas.”

Gordon nodded, and carefully climbed down, once again holding his cane tightly. He gave a final hug to Kliener, and followed Barney out to the main hall once again.

“So…sign language, huh?” Barney asked, cocking his head. Gordon huffed again.

“What about it.”

“Are you fluent?”

Gordon started signing something, which Barney only caught a part of.

“I’m guessing that meant ‘yes.’”

Gordon signed, _yes._

“Are you deaf? Or selective?”

_Deaf,_ Gordon signed, pointing at his small hearing aids that Barney hadn’t noticed before. _Well, both, really. It’s complicated. I can talk if I need to, but it's uncomfortable._

Barney was able to pick up on a little bit more this time, now that Gordon was signing much slower. He nodded, and pressed the elevator button.

“My mom was deaf. Learned some sign to help her get around.” Barney said, finally, while the doors opened up. “If you’d prefer to sign, I’ll try and keep up. I might have to ask you to slow down, or repeat things, though.”

Gordon seemed perplexed, and mirrored Barney’s head tilt, signing: _Are you sure?_

“Yeah, it would help me get back into practice, as well. It’d be good for both of us. Hey, want to get coffee, later?” Barney blurted out, his sentence starting to run together by the end. “Course, you don’t have to, I was just —“

_I’m sorry, I’m really busy, today — moving in and everything. I can’t._ Gordon signed, not meeting Barney’s eye. _Maybe some other time._

_Barney! You idiot! Why would you do that?!_ He mentally screamed at himself, trying to ignore the now incredibly awkward silence in the elevator. Before the elevator dinged to let them out, though, Gordon tapped him on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.

_But, I need some help unpacking. Kliener’s_ (Gordon finger-spelled all names, except his own, it seemed, Barney noticed) _busy, and I would appreciate any help, especially with the heavy boxes._ Gordon asked, his signing much slower than usual. _Don’t feel obligated, though._

“Oh, uh, sure! Sure, I can come and help, let’s just finish your grand tour and we’ll get you settled in!” Barney couldn’t keep the excitement completely contained, but felt like he had done an adequate job, as Gordon didn’t look terrified. Gordon gave him a soft smile, and Barney felt his knees go weak.

Dammit, Barn, get a hold of yourself. He’s asking for help with unpacking, not a date. He just needs you to lift some stuff.

The doors opened, and they walked out, Gordon once again following behind. Barney paused, and let Gordon catch up.

“Hey, need me to walk a little slower? I can’t see if you’re trying to sign anything from back there.”

_Sure._ Gordon signed, obviously a bit embarrassed. _I’m sorry —_

“No, don’t be sorry, I get made fun of for walking too fast all the time.” A lie, but hopefully one that was comforting. “Anyway, here’s the Sector A entrance hallway. You’ll need ID to enter any of the labs, or exit at all, but you have me for — oh, dammit.”

_Your identification card._ Gordon slapped a hand over his mouth to keep the laughter from bubbling out. _How do we get in?_

“Well, uh…I guess we wait for someone to come by. And let us in.” Barney pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, going to sit on the bench nearby. “Aw, hell, sorry Dr. Freeman.”

_Gordon’s fine. And…this isn’t all bad, I guess, I’m actually…_ He paused, and fiddled with his tie for a moment, before continuing. _I’m actually here. Didn’t think I’d make it._

“Oh, believe me, you’ll do great here. If you have Dr. Kliener’s approval, the whole science team will love you. You’re so young, too — what was your major?”

_Theoretical physics._ Gordon then followed that with, _I’m twenty-seven._

“Holy smokes, really? Only 27?” Barney slapped his thigh, and whistled. “I just turned 29 last week, and I still don’t know what I’m doing.” Gordon gave him another smile.

_That’s okay. Everything on your own time._

Barney could feel his face flush, and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thanks, doc.”


End file.
